Friday, April 30, 2010

Life Is Good

This week was a huge improvement over the last two. I am finally, FINALLY, feeling good again, after more than six months of being mostly flat on my back. Obviously, I still have CFS, but I feel as if I've gotten my life back.

I went to lunch at a friend's house this week, ate lunch out at a nice restaurant with Ken (it was Restaurant Week here, with good deals), cooked dinner almost every night, ran errands, and today went to the grocery store. And...drumroll please....twice this week, I did stomach crunches and push-ups without crashing! I was a bit appalled to find I can only do 10 push-ups now. Before CFS, I could do more than twenty, and even just a couple of years ago, I could still manage 14. Just goes to show how being completely sedentary can weaken you. I hope to become stronger again - baby steps!

My Dad is visiting for the weekend, so that should be fun. The last time he was here, I was horribly sick. This afternoon, I was able to sit at the table and play a game with him and the kids. Such a small thing that means so much!

So, I may not have time to post again this weekend. We have two soccer games tomorrow. My biggest concern for the weekend is how to stay out of the sun when it's 90 degrees and sunny out (my Lyme meds make me extremely sun sensitive).

btw 10 push-ups sounds pretty good to me! You must have been pretty fit pre-cfs. I can only do sort of push ups where i only lower by an inch or two, not bending the elbows much (just because I have weak elbows, not because of cfs). I can do them once in a while. I was so inspired by your post that I did a few crunches though... with those I also only crunch by a couple of inches then uncrunch. I lifted weights for 5 minutes today as well. That's pretty good for me lately. I used to walk up huge hills pretty often and do strenuous yoga most days, now a stretch or two usually counts as strenuous yoga! I'm lucky that I can sometimes go for decent size walks, but not on a daily basis like I used to, or even reliably once a week.

I have had Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS or CFIDS) since March 2002. My 19-year old and 16-year old sons also have CFS, and my older son also has Lyme disease plus two other tick infections. This blog is about how our family is learning to live with chronic illness, with a focus on living and enjoying our lives in spite of these challenges.